From time to time, we post here articles about actors, singers, and other artists who started out life in dance but get sidetracked by these other careers. Here is one such example:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><B>Face to Face: Marthe Keller</B><P>Simi Horwitz, BackStage.com<P>Keller grew up on her father's farm in Basel, Switzerland, where he raised racing horses. Keller's early ambition was to be a ballerina, and she started studying dance when she was six years old. A skiing accident, however, put an end to those dreams; she then set her sights on an acting career. During her college years-Keller majored in sociology and philosophy at the University of Frankfurt-she also studied acting in a private theatre school, and made some extra money as a model. She admits frankly that her academic endeavors were undertaken, at least in part, to offset "my fear that I was too superficial." She chortles, "I'm a hit parade of insecurities."<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/bpibs/20010327/en/_b_h1_face_to_face_marthe_keller_h1_b__1.html" TARGET=_blank><B>More</B></A>

Then there's Lea Thompson, most notable of late for her starring role in "Caroline in the City." The youngest of 5 children in Rochester, MN, Lea was preparing for a career in ballet. From the age of 14, she performed in more than 45 ballets on stages such as The Minnesota Dance Theatre, The Pennsylvania Ballet Company, and The Ballet Repertory. She won scholarships with ABT and San Francisco Ballet. At 19, she auditioned for Baryshnikov, who told her she was a beautiful dancer but that her legs were too short. She was devastated but then made about 20 commercials and in the early stages of her career was engaged to Dennis Quaid. Although she has made many movies, she did not return to dancing until most recently singing and dancing as Sally Bowles in "Cabaret" on Broadway.

Christopher Gable comes quickly to mind as such a wonderful primier danseur who then turned to acting and apparently was very successful at it.<P>He partnered Lynn Seymour at Royal Ballet.<P>Then there is McCaulley Caulkin (sp?) who went from being a student at NYCB to acting. I am not sure what he is doing now.

Is that the same Macauley Caulkin that was so truly bad in The Nutcracker movie a few years ago? Hard to believe that he had professional-school training...<P>I've forgotten her name, but one of the leads from Party of Five spent several years at the National Ballet School (Canada) before leaving to pursue acting.

Actress Jane Seymour began her ballet training at the age of 3; in 1964, she made her professional debut with the London Festival Ballet. She later enrolled in the Arts Educational Trust to train in dance, music and theater. She joined the Russian Kirov Ballet and was injured (knees) in her very first performance, and that career was over at the ripe old age of 17.

If you would like to hear from some singers who know that they *can't* dance (and don't want to!), check out the cd of a revue (I think it was benefit one-off) called "Leading Men Don't Dance." It is absolutely hilarious, with some very good singing thrown in for good measure. My personal favourite is "Sensitive New Age Guys."<P>You can probably find it at stores that specialize in musical theatre and movies cd's. For anyone in Toronto (does that by any chance include you, MariusPetipa?), that means Theatre Q's on King Street, near the Princess of Wales Theatre.

I believe this was mentioned in another thread, but I heard an interview on NPR's Fresh Aire with Michelle Yeoh, of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon fame, who talked about her career as a ballet dancer. I think she was an apprentice with the Royal ballet? She injured her back, and her doctor told her not to dance anymore. So she went on to do all these crazy physical stunts in movies, and laughs thinking about what her doctor would think if he saw her doing them! She adds that in making movies and doing stunts, it is less strenuous because you do it in short bursts, and don't have to do it every day. You can hear this interview on the Fresh Air site -- it is archived (<A HREF="http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/fa/20010323.fa.ram" TARGET=_blank>http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/fa/20010323.fa.ram</A>). In it Ang Lee also talks about the movie, including the choreography of the fighting scenes.<P><BR>[Edited by Azlan to fix URL]<p>[This message has been edited by Azlan (edited April 05, 2001).]

Lucy, Vera was actually quite an accomplished figure skater, who segued her way into designing for skaters (of course, as well as for the general public). Interesting how knowledge of movement translates so well in other ways.

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